Engine truck stabilizer



Feb. 20, 1940. J. c. MARIS ENGINE TRUCK STABILIZER Filed April 10, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JAMES C. MHBIS BY A TORNEY Feb. 20, 1940. J. c. MARIS ENGINE TRUCK STABILIZER Filed April 10, 1937 2 SheetsSheet 2 r/a W INVENTOR 'dnmEs C Nazis 1. ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 20, 1940 UNITED STATES .ATENT OFFICE ENGINE TRUCK STABILIZER J ames C. Maris, Glenolden, Pa. Application April" 10 1937, Serial No. 136,077

.9 Claims. (01. 105-210) This invention relates generally to railway trucks, especially locomotive trucks, and more particularly to stabilizing means therefor.

It is well known that when a locomotive is .5 operating at high speeds and enters a curve which has the usual super-elevation on the outer rail, the centrifugal force of the upper portion of the locomotive such as the boiler will cause the springs on the outer side of the locomotive to be n depressed. Sometimes the springs are depressed to such an extent that the stress applied to the springs is excessive and is likely to cause them to break.

It is an object of my invention to provide. an

necessary degree of flexibility and which will-not interfere with existing or necessary features of a a truck. 7 w

parent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the accompanying drawings in v which: as Fig. l is a side elevation of an engine truck embodying my improved stabilizer;

Fig. 2 is a plan View of one-half of a truck such I as disclosed in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; n Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on line 44 of Fig. 3.

' In the illustrated embodiment of the invention such as is disclosed herein merely for the purpose so of illustrating one specific form among possible others thatthe invention might take in practice,

I have shown my improved stabilizer as applied to a usual formof engine truck having a pair of wheeled axles 5 and 6 whose journal boxes are 4-5 suitably guided in pedestals l and 8. These pedestals as is usual are formed in the wheel pieces!) of a truck frame having a cross transom it and swing bolster ll. Any suitable main springs l2 may be supported upon the bolster and operasc. tively connected to the locomotive frame or superstructure I3. A longitudinal equalizing beam M has its end portions curved upwardly to be supported as at I5 on the journal boxes in'a usual manner.

' izing beam l4 is'supplemented by an inner equalbeams l land ll.

' Other objects and advantages will be more ap- As is also usual, the outer equalizing beam l1, Fig. 3, while a spring cradle 18 is dependently supported on the spaced equalizing Any suitable arrangement of springs [9 may be interposed between the cradle l8 and the under side of the transom Ill. The 5 foregoing construction may be considered as representative of a conventional engine truck.

To stabilize the spring action of the truck eitherwhen entering a curve with a super-elevated outer rail or whenan unsymmetrical load is 10 suddenly imposed. on the truck, I have provided two sets of stabilizing devices only one of which needv be described in detail as both are identical. As shown in Fig. 3, a transverse torsion rod 22 is suitably journalled at 23 and 24 on the lower edge of the outer equalizing beams Hi. The outer squared ends of this torsional rod have a pair of substantially horizontally extending arms 25 and 25 secured thereto. These arms are pivotally.

connected to the frame by upwardly extending an and slightly inclined links 21 and 28 connected by pins 29, 30 and 3|, 32 to the arms and truck frame. Asseen in Fig. 1, the second torsional rod33 has its arm 35 extending inwardly toward the' c'enter of, the truck opposite to the armiifi 25 while the link 35 is inclined to the right.

' In operation, assuming that an unsymmetrical 'loadis applied to the right side of the truck,

Fig. 3,the link 28 will act in compression tending to rotate shaft 22, thereby causing arm 25 to pull 3 link 21 in tension to depress the left side of the truck frame. This will'cause the springs on. the left side of the truck to carry a greater portion of the total load than would otherwise be the case.

In'my particularimproved arrangement, all of 35 the stabilizing forces are self-contained between the longitudinal equalizing beams 14,11 and the wheel piece 9, thereby insuring that all parts of the'truck will be maintained in proper operative relation; Also, the two sets of stabilizers are so 40 arranged as to impart a uniform longitudinal action to each side of the truck and yet due to the torsional character of rods 22and 33, there is sufficient yielding to insure maximum relative flexibility of the coil springs IS on oppositesides of the truck. During such operation, the main, springs l2 are free to act in their complete normal manner together with the operation of the swing bolster. v

From the foregoing disclosure it is seen that I have provided an extremely simple, compact and effective engine truck stabilizer for locomotives, operative to deal'with the tremendous forces involved in such equipment but without imposing abnormal stresses upon the various truck parts such as the equalizing beams during transmission of the stabilizing forces from one side of the truck to the other. This freedom from undue stress is effectively accomplished by having the transverse stabilizing rods located at the under edge of the equalizing beams, thereby obtaining the full effectiveness of the depth thereof.

It will of course be understood that various changes in details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A railway truck comprising, in combination, a pair of wheeled axles, a truck frame having pedestals for slidably guiding said axles, equalizing beams located at each side of said truck and between said axles, springs interposed between said equalizing beams and truck frame, a transverse torsion rod for transmitting load forces from one side of the frame to the other side thereof, and means including crank arms and links for pivotally connecting said rod to said equalizing beams and to the opposite sides of said truck frame thereby to cause said transmission of load forces upon rotation of said rod.

2. A railway truck comprising, in combination, a pair of wheeled axles, a truck frame having pedestals for slidably guiding said axles, equalizing beams located at each side of said truck and between said axles, springs interposed between said equalizing beams and truck frame, a torsional rod extending transversely of said truck and operatively supported by the equalizing beams at opposite sides of said truck, and means operatively connecting the ends of said rod to said truck frame so as to subject the rod to torsion upon occurrence'of unequal vertical movement of the opposite sides of the truck thereby to transmit load forces from one side of the truck to the other side thereof to stabilize the same.

3. A railway truck comprising, in combination, a pair of wheeled axles, a truck frame having pedestals for slidably guiding said axles, equalizing beams located at each side of said truck and between said axles, springs interposed between said equalizing beams and truck frame, a plurality of torsional rods extending transversely of said frame, means for journalling said rods on said equalizing beams at the opposite sides of said truck, means operatively connecting the ends of one of said rods to said;truck frame, and means operatively connecting the ends of the other of said rods to said truck frame.

l. A railway truck comprising, in combination, a pair of wheeled axles, a truck frame having pedestals for slidably guiding said axles, equalizing beams located at each side of said truckand between said axles, springs interposed between said equalizing beams and truck frame, a. torsional rod extending transversely of said truck, means for journalling said rod on the under side of said equalizing beams at the opposite sides of the truck, substantially horizontal arms connected to the ends of said rod, and vertically extending links pivotally connected said arms to said truck frame.

5. A railway truck comprising, in combination, a pair of wheeled axles, a truck frame having pedestals for slidably guiding said axles, equalizing beams located at each side of said truck and between said axles, springs interposed between said equalizing beams and truck frame, a torsional rod extending transversely of said frame between the wheels thereof, means for supporting said rod by the equalizing beams at opposite sides of the truck, arms connected to the ends of said rod and extending substantially horizontally toward the transverse central plane of the truck, and vertically extending links pivotally connecting said arms to the truck frame.

6. The combination set forth in claim 5 further characterized by the provision of a second torsional rod, a second set of arms and links connecting, said second rod to the frame, and the arms of the two sets extending toward each other.

7. A railway truck comprising, in combination, a pair of wheeled axles, a truck frame having side pieces terminating in pedestals for slidably guiding said axles, a swing bolster, equalizing beams located at each side of said truck and supported by and between said axles, said side pieces and equalizing beams constituting opposed elements which have relative vertical movement therebetween, a spring system for transmitting load forces from said bolster to said equalizing beams including springs interposed between said opposed elements, and means whereby load forces transmitted from said bolster to one side of the frame are partially transferred to the other side thereof, said means including a transverse rod pivotally supported by one of said opposed elements, crank arms secured to said rod and linkages operatively connecting said crank arms to a portion of the truck having vertical movement relative to the opposed element which supports said transverse rod whereby said rod is subjected to torsion upon occurrence of. unequal vertical loads at the opposite sides of said truck thereby to transmit load forces from one side of the truck to the other side thereof to effect a stabilizing action. I

8. The combination set forth in claim 7 further characterized in that said transverse rod is disposed beneath the element which supports the rod.

9. A railway truck comprising, in combination, a pair of wheeled axles, a truck frame having pedestals for slidably guiding said axles, equalizing beams located at each side of said truck and supported by and between said axles, springs interposed between said equalizing beam and truck frame, a torsional rod extending transversely of said frame between the pair of wheeled axles, means for supporting said rod at opposite sides of the truck, substantially horizontal arms connected to the ends of said rod at points outside of said frame, and means including vertically extending links connected to said arms and to a portion of the truck having relative vertical movement with respect to said rod whereby said rod is subjected to torsion upon occurrence of unequal vertical loads at the opposite sides of said truck thereby to transmit load forces from one side of the truck to the other side thereof to effect a stabilizing action.

JAMES c. MARIS. 

